After the Flame
by Krimson Kane
Summary: It's been years after the chaos that was Flame of Life. After hosting a gaming tournament, Otto sent the two winners from the normal universe to the Pokemon universe as a social experiment. With winners 20 year old Adele and 22 year old Wes sharing a home in Pallet Town, things start to get a little out of hand. (A collaboration between Allora Silverfield and myself.)
1. Chapter 1

Dear Readers,

Allora and myself decided to write (once again) a collaborated story that is more meant for fun, being more for recreation. The events after Flame of Life, which is still being written (clearly), are yet to be determined; it's not set in stone. Any character information, references, or even appearances are to be taken lightly. This story is mature and contains mature situations. Read at your own discretion. Or don't. Your call.

-Krimson Kane

Kane's Fans,

While this is a collaboration between Kane and myself, it will only be posted on his profile, not mine. Because nobody reads what I write *sob*. If you wanna be a good samaritan and donate to the Allora Silverfield foundation, please, God, Jesus, go read my shit that I have put hours of effort into that NO ONE READS. (Kane- "Do it for the children.") *Ahem* Anyway, a follow and favorite would be nice, but I know you guys are halfway up Kane's asshole, and won't come down to take a glance at a mere mortal's work. (Kane reading over my shoulder- "I guess I'm not a mortal then?")

Seriously, I'm kidding. But seriously.

Silverfield

_**Chapter 1**_

The awkwardness was tangible as she stood there, bag in hand, across from this stranger that she was going to be living with for God knows how long.

Arriving in this universe had been much more simple than she had imagined. It was just like walking through a door into another room, except that room was filled with powerful monsters that could kill you, evil organizations that want to kill you, and lots of other things that might kill you too. But nevertheless, she was happily accepted into their society by the local circuit court system, given a trainer card, keys to an apartment building, some money, and a bag filled with some random shit that she hadn't even looked through.

She had with her of course her own bright pink Victoria's Secret duffle bag, containing within everything she might possibly need in her new life. Now the only issue was... him.

She had been escorted to her apartment complex with another person, the other winner of the contest. And he hadn't said one single word to her since they had arrived. They had been dropped off at the front door to their new place, and the cab had driven off, leaving them awkwardly situated in front, having no idea what they were supposed to do.

She hadn't actually seen any pokemon yet, but this was almost to be expected. It was almost 7:30 PM there, the sun nearly set in the October sky. They had been inside of buildings and cars since arriving, not having much time to explore their surroundings.

She stood for a few more seconds, before asking; "So... do you want to unlock the door? I mean I can get my keys out if you don't have yours with you." Hers were buried deep in her bag, and she prayed he just had his in his pockets so she didn't have to dig through her stuff.

"Great," he thought to himself, not reveling any kind of emotion. "This chick is probably going to expect me to be a maid too."

Without saying a single word, he reached in his pocket, pulling out a key chain with their apartment key on it. It was of a pink cartoon girl and was incredibly girly. It'd been given to him as a gift a long time ago and he refused to toss it no matter what. He momentarily glanced at the girl he was forced to room with, as if wanting to see if she was going to comment on it. He slid the key in, giving a subtle twist of his wrist, unlocking the door. He pulled out his key, reaching down and picking up his black and purple duffel back, being a plaid color scheme. With the door now open, he took a step back, and motioned for her to enter first. He wanted to be polite, though most likely came off a little strange instead.

After the door was open, her new roommate stepped back, letting her in first. She gave him a strange look, but stepped in first anyway.

The front door opened up to a small hallway. The left side of the hallway, instead of being a wall, was a granite countertop that extended from the wall, sectioning off the kitchen. The kitchen was basic, with an electric stove, microwave, oven, refrigerator, and dishwasher. The counters were a sandy colored smooth granite, the cabinets a matching tan.

Continuing on she walked into the living room. It was decent sized, with a large television, two couches, and a desk and chair against one wall. Sliding doors against the wall led to a mini backyard, fenced in with privacy fencing. A small bathroom was to the right. To the left the space opened up into a small dining room, with a doorway leading again to the kitchen, under the stairwell.

Also on the left was a set of stairs, leading to the second floor. Adele looked behind her at her roommate, wandering in, and headed upstairs to check out the rooms. At the top of the stairs was another small living space, with a desktop computer, and a bookshelf. Looking closer, she saw that the books were all informative books on the region and the world of pokemon. One of the books, "In Another Universe," had been written by Otto himself. It was a guide to people from the real world on how different this world was. She made a note to take that into her room later.

Both rooms were exactly the same, each with their own bathroom and a walk in closet. She picked the one on the left at random, and dropped her bag on the bed. She had one window with some curtains, and basic red, blue, and black bedding.

Following suit, Wes followed up the stairs moments later, seeing that she had taken the room on the left, with the only room being left being on the right. Honestly, he preferred it that way.

He entered his room, carelessly tossing his bag on his bed. Wes let out a heavy sigh, sitting down, not even giving a single shit about what his room looked like. His mind was so cluttered with his own personal thoughts it was as if he wasn't even there to begin with.

Wes hung his head, feeling an emptiness inside him. He let it settle, not even bothering to shake it off as he normally did in public. In public, nothing bothered him. When he was alone, he was at the mercy of his inner demons.

A few minutes passed, with Wes wiping his eyes clear. Standing up, he grabbed his bag, unzipping it to check on his stuff and make sure it was still in one piece. Upon unzipping, he saw his pistol on top of everything. It was unloaded and racked back, having a silver shine to it. He smirked, zipping up his backpack again.

"If this chick knew I had a piece she'd probably shit a brick or two," he chuckled to himself silently, putting his duffel bag under his bed. Wes reached into his back pocket, pulling out the envelope of money he'd been given when they arrived. He opened it up, counting it once again. 2,000,000 tabs were inside, which was the equivalent of $2,000.

"I'm SOOO rich," Wes joked to himself, putting the money away again. Not having much else to do, he walked out of his room, closing the door lightly behind him.

Adele had gone back downstairs, and was checking out the living space. The couches were cloth, the TV a flatscreen. The powder bathroom had a shower and bathtub inside, as if for guest usage in case they had people over. She had taken the book written by Otto downstairs, and was flipping through it.

"What's... an anthropomorphic form?" she muttered, turning the page. There were pictures all over of pokemon that looked like humans, standing on two legs, and even talking. "Really?" she murmured, slightly excited. There was what looked like a growlithe, wearing a kimono, and a persian, though it was missing its gem on its forehead. She was about to turn the page, when...

*Thumpthumpthump* There was a knock on the door. She glanced up the stairs for a moment, before heading to answer it. However, without warning, in burst an eccentric looking older man. he had greyish hair, a labcoat that was tucked into the back of his pants, and was covered in stains. He carried a briefcase with him, and carelessly slammed it on the countertop.

"Where's ma two lurkiesht trainersh in theh whowle wide worold," he slurred. He stumbled in, slamming the door behind him, and spotting Adele.

"Thersh one, wheresh the other?" he slurred. He looked around, lost, almost forgetting she was even there. But then, he spotted her again.

"Thersh one," he repeated. He paused, just staring at her, but then shook his head like he was waking up again. "Whash your name shweety?" he rambled.

"I'm... Adele?" she said, almost like she was asking a question. She looked around for her roommate.

"Whash the name o the other one?" he slurred. She paused, thinking. She didn't actually know his name yet.

"I... I don't really know?" she answered, still wondering who the hell this guy even was.

The pounding on the door had made Wes on guard, having quickly scramble upstairs. Within half of a minute, he'd managed to quickly get his gun from his bag, load it, half cock it, and hide it behind him.

"Whash the name o the other one?" Wes heard a voice slur downstairs. At that time, Wes had already slowly begun to descend, gun stuffed halfway in the back of his pants, hidden. He lightly stepped down the stairs, remaining calm. He saw a strange man, a drunk, really, standing near the kitchen. His roommate was near the kitchen, with her not noticing him coming down yet.

"I... I don't really know?" he heard her answer. Wes pushed the hammer back and put on the handguns safety, covering the butt of the gun with his over shirt as he continued downstairs. Even if this man was clearly not a threat, Wes wasn't taking any chances.

"Wes," he said. The drunk that had stumbled inside with the briefcase on the counter stumbled about, seeing Wes suddenly on the stairs. He glared at the man, giving him a cold look. "Can we help you?" Wes asked sternly.

The drunk smiled, nodding his head with a bobbing motion.

"Yesh!" he claimed. "I'm herr to givvvve you pok-a-mOns!"

Wes eyed this man who looked like he'd been living in a gutter completely vexed.

"You're telling me you barged inside our home to give us Pokemon?..." Wes questioned, stilling cautiously eying the drunk man.

Adele glanced back and forth between the two as they spoke. "I'm... Adele," she said slowly, feeling compelled to interject with her name, as Wes had introduced himself.

The man looked at her, and back at Wes, and back at her again. "Ah, there you two are!" he said, as if seeing them for the first time. Adele rolled her eyes, having had enough of his bullshit.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked bluntly, crossing her arms. She narrowed her eyes, flicking her head to the side to move her hair out of her face.

"I'm..." the man squinted, staring at the floor. "I'm... Uh..." He looked up at the ceiling. Then, he snapped his fingers. "I'm Professor... Um..."

He lost his train of thought again. He looked down, then back up at them "Ah, there you two are!"

"Professor Oak?" she asked, praying to God that it wasn't him.

"Thash ma name!" he slurred, grinning broadly. Adele covered her eyes with a hand, in defeat.

"Oh lord..." she mumbled.

Wes shook his head a little. Was this guy for real?

"YOU'RE professor Oak?"

"Tash righ!" he slurred, bobbing his up and down again. Wes watched him fiddle with his briefcase. His hands fumbled about, having difficulty opening it. He'd curse every time his hand slipped, making it a little painful for Wes to watch. After what Wes could only assume to have been his 47th attempt, the case finally opened up. Inside were two Pokeballs, each looking a little warn and tattered. He eyed them cautiously. Was his guy serious?

"Wait," Wes said, with Professor Oak, or at least who this drunken fool claimed to be, took out each Pokeball. Thrice, he bobbed his head with a stupid grin on his face.

"Deez h-are the greatest Pokemon I hhhavv," he explained, full of 'confidence.' "The-hay are wour-they of trainers such 'has yuu!"

Wes blinked a couple of times. So. Many. Questions.

"Just..." Adele sighed, stepping forward. She snatched the pokeballs out of his wavering hands. "THANK you," she said, slowly and dripping with false sincerity. Professor Oak nodded, his eyes wide, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"R-really?" he gasped.

"Yes," she said, patting his hands that were now clasped together. "Now... get out of our house."

"But... can't I shtay for awhile?" he whimpered.

"No," she said, maybe a bit too fast. "No..." she repeated, nicer. "Your alcohol at home misses you."

"It... she does?" he said, his inanimate bottle of alcohol suddenly becoming female.

"... Yes," was all Adele could say. Without another word, the man who was once professor Oak turned around, flung open the door, and sprinted off into the night.

The door wide open, two pokeballs in hand, and a briefcase on the counter, all Adele could do was stare.

Wes stood there, still on the stairs.

"What...the actual fuck..." Wes said, at a loss. He shook his head, looking at the pokeballs in Adele's hands. He raised his eyebrow, slowly finishing walking down the steps of the stairs. He made his way over to the briefcase, which reeked of alcohol. He wafted his hand in front of his face, feeling his eyes burn a little.

"Jesus Christ," Wes coughed. "Did he BATHE in bourbon or has he drank himself to the point of literally replacing his blood with alcohol? The last person I saw drink like that was my mom before-"

He stopped himself, clearing his throat. Examining the case a little more showed that it was yet to be emptied. Inside were a few pamphlets and a VHS tape. Overwhelmed with nostalgia, Wes picked up the tape. It had a piece of tape on it, with the words "So You Want To Be A TRAINER?" He laughed a little.

"They still make these?" Wes joked.

"I guess," answered Adele, more than a little irritated. She closed the front door, peering into the briefcase afterward. Inside were little trifold laminated papers, each with their own special title. The one labeled: "The Magic Balls," caught her eye, more for the humor than anything else. A pokeball with shining sparkles glittering around it spanned the front cover.

She opened it up, reading a little bit. "The pokeball is a magical device..." she murmured. It said that pokeballs could be minimized by squeezing their sides. She tried it with the two she held, and miraculously, they shrank down to golf ball size.

It also said that to register a pokeball as yours, you had to prick your finger on the back. That didn't sound fun. She decided to leave that bit for later. "Here," she said, walking over to Wes and slapping a pokeball into his hand. "You take this one."

She walked over to the wall to check out the TV. "It has a VHS player," she observed. "No DVD player though. What is this, 1995?"

Come to think of it, that WAS the year that Pokemon, Red Version was released. She found the thought amusing, but brushed it off. "Bring that tape over here," she said.

Wes held the Pokeball in his hand, giving it a look over. He let out a little "hmm," walking over to Adele with the VHS tape still in his other hand. He hunched over slightly, peering at the player. It'd been so long since he'd used one of them he'd nearly forgotten how they worked. He raised his hand, stalled a bit, then finally figured out which button actually turned it on. With a red button shining on the player, indicating that it was on, he pushed in the tape, having it start to be taken in by itself.

Seeing that the remote to the Television was on the TV itself, he took it in hand, still holding the golf sized pokeball in the other, turning the TV on. The first thing he saw come on was a soap opera in the midst of drama. He saw the face of a very old woman with wrinkles covering her entire face.

"You lied to me Jonathan!" she cried. "I'll never let you-"

Wes hit input before it continued, changing to a black and somewhat flickering screen. The tape was playing now, though had yet to start. He stood there for a moment, still next to Adele, having an awkward silence come between them.

"I guess this is going to be one of those bonding experiences then?" he joked.

Out of nowhere, the screen turned white, with a rainbow shooting across the screen. 80's waiting room music played, with the screen flicking a little from the tape being so old. The rainbow shimmered, with the background turning a vibrant pink, with the words, in big brown letters reading "So You Want To Be A Pokemon TRAINER?"

"And certainly a memorable one at that," Wes added.

The intro looked like a really bad episode of Barny, or the Telli Tubbies on some kind of speed. She sat down on the couch and groaned. She had been in this world less than a day, and it was already annoying the shit out of her.

The music playing as the intro went on reminded her of some kind of Cher/Michael Jackson's "Beat It." It was way way too peppy for the mood she was in.

"This looks riveting," she muttered, tossing her minimized pokeball back and forth between her hands.

Wes followed suit, sitting down on the same couch as Adele, though made sure to sit distant from her on the other side. He fingered the minimized pokeball in his hand, staring at the screen with great...'anticipation.' He felt the cold chill of his gun against his skin behind him, making it a little more uncomfortable to sit.

It suddenly jump cut to a man in tight jeans and a skin tight white shirt. He stood there for a moment, with the most forced grin Wes had EVER seen. His eyes were wide open, as if he had been under the influence of meth. The man just stood there, with the screen now focused on a closeup of his face. He just... stood there. Wes edged back on the couch a bit.

"I'm pretty sure this is how most horror films start," Wes commented.

"HI!" the man on the tape boomed, making Wes jolt back even farther. His heart began to race. The audio of the music and voicing were so unbalanced it was literally painful to listen to. He turned the volume down with the remote, so low to the point where the voice sounded normal, yet the music wasn't even noticeable at that point. Honestly, he wasn't going to start complaining about not being able to hear what to him sounded like a mix of Cher's "Do you believe in life after love" mixed with "Beat it" by Micheal Jackson. "MY NAME IS SAM!"

His voice still sounded loud, but Wes could only turn the volume so low.

"IF YOU'RE WATCHING THIS, YOU'RE OFFICIALLY A POKEMON TRAINER!" 'Sam' said with great enthusiasm. "I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU WHAT IT TRULY MEANS TO BE A POKEMON MAAASTER!"

The last part was echoed, putting emphasis on 'pokemon master.'

It jump cut once again, this time showing 'Sam' standing in front of a man in a god damn mudkip outfit. He looked like a pokemon fur suiter who got lost on his way a convention. 'Sam' went on to instruct how to battle and to use the safety rules when engaging with other Pokemon. He threw a plastic ball down at the ground, suddenly with another fur suiter 'magically appearing' in front of him, being a pikachu. 'Sam' spun around on his heel, staring at the camera. It zoomed in on his face, showing his eyes were bloodshot.

"Always remember to FAP."

Wes stared at the screen, as if perhaps mishearing him.

"...what?"

"That's right!" he yelled, with his voice being slightly less loud for some reason now. "Face your opponent, Accept your battle, and Prepare to fight! F.A.P.!"

Wes let out a heavy sigh, with 'dramatic' music playing as the two 'pokemon' fought it out, flailing their arms around, slapping each other like school children on the playground. The mudkip suddenly fell on one knee, letting out a cry of pain, which sounded like a heavy set man letting out a bear growl. 'Same turned to the screen once again, having it zoomed in on his bloodshot eyes.

"When you ready to capture a pokemon, thing about CUNT!"

"..."

"Control your throwing arm, Use an overhand toss, 'Nab that pokemon, then Throw your hands in the air- because you Caaaaught it! YEAH!"

"..." Wes put his hand over his face. "This is too painful to watch..."

"Congratulations!" 'Sam' said with a smile. "You're now ready to become a POKEMON MASTER! YEEEEEAAAAH!"

The film began to fade out, leaving Wes sitting there, hand still over his face.

"I... I can't even... just..." he started to shake his head. "God damn it all….

After the horror movie was over, Adele just sat there, staring at the fuzzy screen left over after the film had ended. "What..." was all she could say. She shook her head, standing and walking back over the briefcase.

"You would think they would tell us some things that we didn't already know," she grumbled. All of the things in the movie that he had said, the little tiny bit of it that had made sense, were things she already knew just from playing the games. She dug through the briefcase, looking for more pamphlets.

"Basics of Pokemon," she read aloud. She grabbed four or five more of them, and dropped them off on the coffee table, sitting on the couch again. "Pokemon can be captured in pokeballs... blah blah blah..." she said, scanning the booklet. "Ah! Here we go. To release your pokemon from their pokeball, enlarge the ball, and throw it on the ground, mentally projecting that you want the pokemon to leave the ball." She was about to try it, when she caught a note. "IMPORTANT! Make sure your pokeball is registered to your DNA first, or this will NOT work!"

Great, finger pricking, she thought. She glanced through the other pamphlet, and pushed her thumb up against the back of the ball. It quickly pricked her finger, and suddenly she felt a weight in the back of her mind that she could not describe.

"... Okay," she said, nervous suddenly. She enlarged the pokeball, and glanced at Wes. "You wanna do it at the same time?"

Wes enlarged his pokeball, looking at the back of it. He saw where he was supposed to prick his finger, as well as the Will meter. It was set on green, being right in the middle. Without any hesitation, he took his thumb and pricked it. It hurt a little more than he let on, keeping up his tough act.

"Sure," he told her. "On the count of three?"

"Alright," she said. "One... Two... Three!"

Closing her eyes, she tossed the ball onto the ground in front of her, projecting really hard with her mind that she wanted the pokemon to come out of the ball. She heard a hissing noise, like crackling electricity. The ball opened in the air, and somehow flew backwards right back into her hand. She thought it had something to do with the fact that it was connected to her DNA.

She barely opened an eye and looked down. A little orange lizard pokemon with a flaming tail was grinning up at her. "A charmander..." she whispered, overcome with awe for the first time since entering this new world. It was her first pokemon she had ever gotten when she started playing the games as a kid. In fact, in the championship match in the women's league of Otto's competition, she had used a charizard on her team. The odds...

She glanced over where Wes' pokemon should have been. But the ball was just laying on the ground, unopened. "Did you... project for it to open with your mind?" she asked, remembering what the pamphlet had said. "Did you prick your finger yet?"

Confused, Wes raised his eyebrow.

"I mean... yeah, I did, but... huh..."

He knelt down and picked the ball back up, just staring at it. Wes raised the ball up to his ear, shaking it as if he could potentially hear something inside. Realizing that he may or may not have been giving whatever pokemon inside shaking baby syndrome, he stopped, looking for a way to manually open it. He looked at it's sides, turned it upside down, and even looked on the back of it. It was starting to frustrate him. He forcefully grabbed the top and bottom of the ball, starting to pull at it.

"Time to come out, you," Wes wheezed as he tried to pull open the ball. "Whatever you might be."

He strained a little, though refused to give up. Whatever was in there was coming out!

"I swear to god," Wes said with his face turning red, "if I go through all of this work just to find out it's a magikarp-"

The ball finally popped open, leaving Wes speechless.

It was empty. He stood there for a minute in pure silence, just staring at the empty pokeball.

"Well... at least it's not a magikarp..." he said with a defeated sigh.

Adele was speechless, not sure whether she should be comforting Wes, or entertaining her charmander that was starting to wander around the house with a tail that was on fire. "I'm... really sorry," she said, sidestepping over to her new pokemon, nudging it and its tail away from the couch. "Maybe it was a mistake?"

"Char..." grumbled her charmander, heading over to the TV instead. Wes looked totally defeated.

"Hey... you have a pokeball at least. Maybe you can try and catch one?" she said. Her charmander was going through old tapes, tossing them on the ground after looking at each one. She kept an eye on its tail, not wanting their new house up in flames.

"Y-yeah..." Wes said, doing his best not to show how upset he was. "I mean, shit, it's not that big of a deal. Easy come, easy go."

Wes looked over towards the television, seeing the charmander Adele had received going through all of the tapes. He smirked, finding it a little funny. He silently sighed to himself, turning around and slowly heading for the front door.

"Hey," he told her, "I'm gonna head out for a bit. I'm just gonna go on a walk and clear my head a little. Congratulations on getting a charmander by the way."

Honestly, Wes found the situation a little funny. Even in this new world he found himself in he was STILL coming up short. Nevertheless, a nice walk would help, or at least take his mind off of things. He gave a wave of his hand before exiting the front door.

"Make sure your new Pokemon doesn't light the house on fire," Wes said with somewhat of a forced laugh. "Later."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

Adele sighed, watching as Wes gently closed the door behind him. That really sucks, she thought, frowning a bit. It wasn't like he couldn't get a pokemon at all, but to have that anticipation of receiving something... only to have it snatched away... must be a terrible feeling. She sighed, and turned back to her own pokemon. She couldn't dwell on it too much, he would have to figure it out on his own.

Her charmander was still exploring the space, and had made his way over to the bathroom. She followed the flame on his tail, making sure he didn't burn anything. Suddenly, she remembered something she had seen in Otto's book. "Anthro form..." she muttered. Her charmander had gotten bored of the bathroom and was heading over to the kitchen. "Hey... hey!" she said, realizing that she hadn't named him yet. He turned around, looking at her. She suddenly felt self conscious. "Um... can you look like me?" she asked.

The charmander just stared, and she could swear it raised its non existent eyebrow at her. "You know... can you have a shape like I do?" It grinned a bit, but didn't do anything else. "An... anthro form?" she tried.

That last time, the charmander nodded, laughing a bit. His body began to shimmer and morph, growing to be several inches taller than her. His chest was ripped, his abdomen sectioned off into eight parts, and his pectoral muscles impeccable. And... he was naked.

"Agh!" Adele cried, shielding her eyes.

"Cha ha ha," laughed her nameless charmander, hands on his hips. Nudity, what's that?

"Okay... we need to get you some clothes," she said, heading upstairs. Her charmander followed. She made sure not to turn around. Hopefully Wes doesn't mind if I borrow some of his clothes, she thought.

Wes strolled the empty streets of Pallet down, walking along a sidewalk that passed a few small stores and an arcade. Pallet down had certainly started to grow, from what he'd been told. There were rumors that the town was once barely a speck on the map. Wes cared little of the history, more focused on what the future had in store. HIS future. He began to wonder if it was a mistake to come in the first place. Then again, it wasn't like he really had many other places to go.

He carelessly kicked a can, having a streetlight shining over him. It flew off into the distance, hitting into the side of a movie rental place. He glanced at it, seeing VHS tapes displayed in the windows. He couldn't help but laugh. Seriously? Still with VHS? For a world that was so technologically advanced, they sure needed to get with the times. His laughter faded off into the night.

His thoughts wandered, thinking about his plans for this new place. Maybe he'd focus on making connections. Maybe do some odd jobs. Or maybe be a pokemon trainer full time. That thought stopped him in his tracks, halting where he was. He was halfway across a small bridge that passed over a water drainage canal below. He reached inside his pocket, pulling out the pokeball that professor Oak had given to him. He stared at it, wishing he had at least gotten SOMETHING.

"Fuck it," Wes sighed.

Resting his hands on the railing, he lowered his head, staring down at the little water that was ticking by.

"hhhhhHHMMMM!"

"Sssssh! Shut up, you stupid bitch!"

Wes quickly looked around him, hearing what he thought sounded like someone in distress. He'd been around that kind of life long enough to know when something wasn't right. No matter which direction he looked in, he saw nothing.

"Heh heh, yeah, that's right," he heard a male voice chuckle. "Don't fight it."

Not good. NOT good. Wes finally realized that the voices were in fact coming from UNDER him. He looked over the railing, seeing there was a walk path on the side of the water drainage. He reached behind him, pulling out his gun. He quickly made his way to the end of the bridge, taking a turn and carelessly jumping over the railing.

Wes landed on his side, sliding down the sloped that led down to the water drainage. He slowly slid down, gun still in hand, finally reaching the walk path and getting on his feet. It was dark enough for him to remain hidden, with his dark clothes aiding him in keeping hidden. He had his silver 9mm lowered, trying not to have it give his position away.

In the darkness under the bridge, he saw a large figure pushing someone up against the wall underneath the bridge. It was hard to see the other person, with only the man being seen. He saw the man's teeth bare, showing a white toothed smile. His clothes looked dirty, having mud caked on the lower part of his jeans, wearing a torn tank top, being what looked like what used to be a white color. Used to. Sweat stains had changed the color to a nasty yellow. Wes heard him chuckle again.

"You ready for the time of your life, baby?" he asked, reaching for the belt of his jeans. Whoever he had pinned against the wall let out a cry, but was muffled by his large hand over their mouth. The man started to undo his belt. Wes wasn't about to let this go any further. He flicked the safety off, fully pulling the hammer of his gun back.

Wes moved out from the darkness, slowly stepping in the direction of the man, having his gun raised and held with both hands.

"You may want to reconsider that," Wes told him calmly. The dirty man's neck snapped in Wes' direction, quickly pulling something from his belt and raising it. He moved the figure he had captive in front of him, using them as a human shield, putting what was a large hunting knife up to their throat. Wes saw that it was a woman. Not a human; an anthro Pokemon.

She stood a little over five feet tall, covered in a dark fur. She had red eyes, with tears in them. She was completely shaken, looking so hopeless. She was completely naked. Her tail was frayed and she was visibly shaking. The dirty man held the knife to her throat, with Wes calmly standing there before him, gun pointed in their direction.

"You best walk away, boy," the man sternly told him, having his eyes ablaze and his grip tighten around the handle of his knife. Wes was unphased, not having moved a single inch.

"Put down the knife," Wes calmly told him. The man looked at him like he was crazy.

"You deaf, boy? Get the fuck out of here! This ain't none of your concern."

Wes took a step forward, with the man putting the knife closer to the female pokemon's neck, whatever it was. Wes quickly stopped the moment he saw her wince. He took a step back, showing he understood.

"Let's take this slow," he told him. "Let's talk about this."

The man was starting to get angrier.

"We ain't got nothing to talk about!" he yelled. Wes had the gun pointed in the direction of his head. He knew he could make the shot, but didn't want to be rash.

"I'm not leaving," Wes told him sternly. "If you don't let go of her, I WILL shoot. And I don't miss."

The man with the knife stared at the gun in his hand, getting a little fidgety. He looked back at Wes, eying him down.

"You're that good of a shot, huh?" The dirty man said, suddenly removing the knife the pokemon's throat, shoving her forward. She went flying towards Wes, with him catching her. He caught his balance, having her held with one arm. He looked up just in time to see the man running at him with his knife. With stunning reflexes, Wes aimed his pistol at the man's chest.

He pulled the trigger, with the pokemon he held folding her dog-like ears back from how loud it was. She had her face buried in his chest, with Wes staring at the man he had just shot, lying on his back with blood beginning to pool beneath him. Wes frowned, with the female pokemon slowly starting to turn her head, as if to see it her prior capture was still going to hurt her. Wes quickly put his hand on the side of her face, making her look back towards him.

"No, no, no," he told her, doing his best to shield her from the terrible sight. "Don't look, okay? Are you alright?"

The female pokemon looked up at Wes, with tears streaming down her face. She suddenly burst into tears, crying hysterically. He clung onto Wes for dear life. With his gun still smoking in his other hand, Wes reached into his pocket as she cried, pulling out his cell phone. Not sure if the phone number was universal in...well, that universe, he pressed 0. He placed it up to his ear, letting it ring.

"Hello?" Wes said still calm, with the pokemon he now held sobbing helplessly still. "I need the police."

Adele pushed open the door to Wes' room, still keeping her head turned away from her new anthro charmander. His bag was on his bed, the plaid purple and black duffel being unzipped partially. Already feeling like she was prying, Adele reached in, avoiding looking inside, and grabbed the first pair of shorts and shirt she could find. The shorts were mesh work out shorts, and the shirt a simple black T-shirt. She passed them behind her to her charmander, who took them out of her hands.

The shirt fit fine. But the shorts... The charmander was having issues putting them on due to his tail. But, he quickly solved this problem in an efficient manner. He got his clothes situated, and tapped his trainer on the shoulder, very much proud of himself.

"Great," Adele moaned, looking at what he had done. The shirt was fine, actually fitting quite well, not to mention showing off his figure. But the shorts... To solve the tail issue, the charmander had used his tail flame to burn a hole through the back of them.

"Cha!" he exclaimed, excited. Adele rolled her eyes, his naive excitement contagious. She smiled a bit.

"Let's go downstairs and get out of his room," she said, heading out his door and closing it behind him. She was going to have to buy him some new clothes later on. Both of them.

Once downstairs, it instantly became awkward. She turned back around to face him. He walked over to the couch and leaned against the back of it, positioning his tail in a way so it wouldn't burn anything.

"You're... pretty self aware of your tail huh?" she said lamely, starting conversation. He nodded, amused.

"Can you speak?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Char chaha charmander," he said, as if explaining. Adele nodded, not understanding what he said, but understanding the point he was trying to make.

"Gotcha... Do you have a name?" she asked. He shook his head no. She frowned, puzzled.

"I don't want to name you something you wouldn't like..." she said. He shrugged, gesturing with his clawed hand for her to list off some things.

"Okay... um... Yasser?" He grimaced, shaking his head. "Carlos?" He frowned, shaking his head again. "Vortex?" His reaction was more positive that time, but it was still a no.

Adele listed off several more names, before finally reaching an agreement on a name. "Draco?" she said, Harry Potter popping into her head for no reason. Her charmander's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously.

"Draco..." she said, testing out the word. It seemed cliché, however odds were that no one in that universe had ever heard of Harry Potter. So it wouldn't be too bad. "Draco it is then."

Draco grinned, baring pointy teeth and smiling.

The pokemon Wes had prevented from being sexually assaulted still clung onto him, watching a covered gurney being taken into the back of an ambulance. Her face buried into Wes' chest, with the police officer that had been dispatched in front of them. The three of them watched as the ambulance doors closed, slowly taking off with the sirens not bothering to come on There was no need.

The officer shook his head, almost in disbelief, turning back to face Wes.

"You've got one hell of an aim, boy." he told him. "Pieced his heart- straight on through."

Hearing this, the pokemon clung onto Wes a little tighter. Still in her anthro form, she was now wearing Wes' black over shirt, which went down over her backside, just barely being long enough to cover her.

"He didn't give me much of a choice," Wes said a little remorseful. The officer nodded his head.

Resting on the hood of the officers car was a needle and syringe, having been used on the pokemon.

"We IDed the guy," the officer told him, being somewhat of a burly man that looked like he threw trees logs for fun on his spare time. "He's got a record of violence, sexual assault, and even drug trafficking. That poochyena was injected with a chemical agent that's been surfacing around Pallet for the past few months. It induces the pokemon to enter it's anthro form unwillingly, leaving it that way for a while. It doesn't take a genius to know what he was planning on doing with her."

"A poochyena, huh?" Wes said silently to himself. He glanced at her neck, seeing where she'd been stabbed with the drug. "Any telling how long it lasts?"

The officer standing before them reached up and scratched his square jaw, rubbing his stubble. His eyes were a dark brown with his hair being a matching color.

"That's hard to say," he told Wes, still rubbing his chin. "It depends on how it's made, how potent it is, and the type of pokemon it's used on. The department is still trying to figure out what the hell this stuff is even called. There's a lot of street names for it, but pinpointing it's actual scientific name has proven difficult." The officer looked at the shaken poochyena, seeing her holding onto Wes for dear life. He frowned. "She yours?"

Wes shook his head.

"Well," the officer told him, "taking her into the station doesn't look like it'd help in her state, and setting her 'free' stuck in that form would leave her helpless in the wild."

Wes nodded, still with the poochyena holding onto him.

"I don't mind looking after her," he told him. "After everything she's been through tonight I don't think it would be fair to just leave her this way."

The police officer nodded, feeling like Wes, after everything that had happened, would make sure she'd be alright. He watched Wes reach behind him, pulling out his gun. It was unloaded, racked back without the clip. It was painful for him to hand his gun over to the officer.

"I'm assuming you'll need this for evidence?" Wes said with a sigh. The officer took the gun from him, and examined it. He chuckled, handing it right back.

"I got all the evidence I need," he told him. "You must not be from around here. It doesn't work that way in Kanto. It's a nice piece though."

Wes gladly took his firearm back from him, actually really surprised. Even so, he wasn't going to complain. He'd never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth before. He tucked his gun away behind him, covering it with the black undershirt he was left with.

"Thank you," Wes said to him, "it was a gift from my dad. He was a police officer too where I'm from."

The officer seemed a little enlightened by this fact.

"That clearly explains how you've got such good aim," the officer stated. Wes nodded his head, patting that back of the poochyena. "You live nearby?"

"Yeah, not to far actually. A little less than a mile."

"How about I give you two a ride home," he told Wes. "It's the least I can do after everything. I'd hate for you both to have to walk back in this chilly weather, especially seeing as she has no real clothes."

Wes gave him a thankful nod.

"That would be very appreciated, Officer..."

"Nash." he told him. "Samuel Nash. Sam works just as well."

With that, he led them to his police car.

The poochyena held onto Wes' arm the entire ride, still shaking.

Adele had decided to take an inventory of the things that she had, figuring out how much time she had left before she would need to get a real job. With both her and Wes each having 2,000,000 tabs each, or roughly $2,000, she had quite a while to get used to the new world first. Especially since their house had been paid for in full. With no rent due, the only bills they needed to pay were water and electric bills.

She had discovered that the fridge and cabinets had been stocked with local foods, all labeled in neat handwriting that she did not recognize. Draco followed her around as she searched, helping her take an inventory of the things, though he couldn't speak. She made a list, as he pulled each thing out of the fridge or cabinet, setting them on the counters.

"Four steaks..." she muttered. "Four jars of oran jelly..." They seemed to have gotten samples of nearly all the local foods offered, probably as a way for them to discover which foods they liked. She couldn't wait to try some of the berries that she recognized so well from the games. She noticed that there was food from actual animals in the fridge too, and no pokemon meat either. She assumed it was because pokemon were sentient, and animals weren't. She hadn't known that real animals existed in this universe, and she made a note of that as well.

Earlier she had gone through her bag of items that she had been given, finding a few items that would come in handy. First and foremost, she found a cell phone. A basic flip phone, it was connected to a local phone network called Jolt-Eon, apparently the fastest network in Kanto. There was a sticky note on the phone, saying that the phone service, as long as they keep those phones, is paid for by their winnings. She didn't argue with that.

Also in the bag was a Pokedex. However, instead of it being a device that she would have to fill on her journey, like she would have had to in a game, this Pokedex was already filled with information on pokemon from what she recognized as the first three generations. And it wasn't just a tiny sentence of information like the game gives. It was essentially an encyclopedia of information on all pokemon, including their habitats, diets, mannerisms, special care, unique colorations, anthro forms, special interests, and much much more. She had put it away at the time, but was going to make sure to read up on charmander that night.

There were two more things inside the bag. One was a strange looking black collar, with a sticky note on it, reading "Talker Collar. Compliments of Otto." She made sure to note that, and do research on what a talker collar was.

The last thing in the bag was a literal gift basket, with shampoo, conditioner, body wash, a candle, and some chocolates that tasted chalky. The perfect thing to cap off her day.

"Two loaves of bread..." she counted, with Draco gingerly picking up the bread in his claws and setting it on the counter. He was extremely helpful with her, and she could feel his emotions in the back of her mind. He seemed generally carefree and happy about life, excited to be exploring the world as an anthro pokemon instead of in his beast form.

Suddenly, the lock on the front door jiggled. Adele flinched, whirling around at the exact same time as Draco. He bared his teeth slightly, the flame on his tail inflating, until the door opened to reveal Wes.

As Wes entered their home, still with the poochyena clinging onto him, he froze. Standing in their home was the charmander.

Wearing his clothes...

"Uh..." Wes didn't know what to say. There really wasn't much of a way to open things with. 'Oh hey, nice to see you're still here! I just shot and killed a rapist! How are you?' Yeah, that wasn't going to fly. He felt the poochyena adjust, moving behind him a little. He raised his eyebrow, completely lost.

"I'm...back?" he said at a loss.

Adele relaxed, realizing that somewhere in her panic she had grabbed a butter knife, and was holding it at the ready. What she was going to possibly do with a butter knife she had no idea, but nevertheless she felt silly when Wes entered the room.

"You're back," she said, exhaling. She set the knife down on the counter. Draco visibly relaxed as well when his trainer did, their emotions linked through her DNA. Adele was peering at Wes, analyzing his expression, when out from behind him she saw a muzzle peering over his shoulder.

"What..." She shook her head, correcting herself. "Who is that?" she asked. Clearly a pokemon, she was black in color, with a large dog-like muzzle, pointed wolfish ears, and sad sad eyes.

Wes glanced back at the poochyena, seeing that she was still clearly shaken. He looked back towards Adele, giving somewhat of a forced half smile, feeling the pokemon he'd saved holding onto the backs of his shoulders.

"It's a little...complicated..." Wes explained.

The next thirty minutes consisted of Wes explaining what happened on his little walk. The first part, at least. The entire time he told the story, sitting on the couch with the poochyena sitting right next to him (still only wearing his button up that went past her thighs), he contemplated on how much he should fabricate his story. He got to the part where the man had pulled a knife on her, having casually left out the part about him pointing at gun at him. Wes finally let out a large breathe of air. This was now or never. Either tell the truth or don't.

"Look," Wes said almost as if he had done something wrong. "I don't honestly know how to say this without you freaking out. I um... you see..." He paused, closing his eyes and telling himself to grow up. "I came prepared. Since we're probably going to be roommates for some time, I might as well just be honest with you... Don't freak out, okay?"

Wes stood up from the couch, reaching behind him and pulling out his gun. He gently placed it on it's side on the coffee table, making sure it wasn't pointing at anyone.

"My dad's a cop. Well, was a cop. I've known how to shoot a gun since I was a kid."

Well, actually the truth of the matter was he'd known how to properly shoot a gun since he was five, but he wasn't going to start bringing up pointless facts.

"I wasn't given much of a choice. You see, I um..."

Wes looked away. There was no way around it.

"I pulled the trigger..." he told her. He proceeded to explain what happened afterword, telling her how he called the cops after 'the deed was done'.

"She's not able to switch back to her beast form after being injected with that stuff," he told Adele, avoiding making eye contact with her. "I didn't want to just leave here there and decided it would be beast to take her with me. I'm... sorry…."

Adele blinked, looking back and forth between Wes and his pokemon. Assuming he was keeping her. The mention of the gun and the killing wasn't a surprise to her, given her own past. The rapist was the most shocking, as she hadn't expected this world to be as heartless as her own. But... what else was she to expect? She was more concerned with the poor pokemon than anything, the sadness just radiating out from her.

"So... you're keeping her... right?" she asked expectantly, looking between them again. If Wes thought he was going to throw her out on the street... he had another thing coming.

The gun was the least surprising of the statements Wes had made. With her living in a farm down south, and her father owning plenty of hunting rifles and pistols, Wes wasn't the only one who knew how to use a firearm. Adele had grown up with horses, riding them in shows, and on occasion even racing, and had become a sport hunter at a very young age. She had gone on annual trail hunts with her father and her uncles, and could shoot a gun almost better on horseback than on the ground. And while her experiences with guns usually had involved shooting deer and rabbits, she wasn't about to mention any of her experience to him at this time.

She looked at the poor girl again, who appeared to be close to her own age, but her absolute fear made her appear several years younger than she really was. "Because if you don't keep her, I will."

Wes looked back up at Adele. He was more surprised that she was more worried about the poochyena rather than the fact that he'd just wasted someone. He nodded his head. As much as he acted like it, he was far from heartless. He wasn't about to just let such a poor pokemon like that out into the wild. Not after everything she'd been through.

"Of course I'm keeping her," he told her. He placed his hand on his poochyena's knee. She tensed up, balling her body up a little bit as she still sat on the couch. "I'm actually kind of glad Oak gave me an empty ball. MUCH better than a Magikarp."

He looked at her, giving her a warm smile. She shyly lowered her ears, looking down at the floor. Wes frowned, with his attempt to raise his spirits failing. He looked at the shirt he'd let her use.

"Even so, I don't think having her parading around in only a shirt is very... comfortable for her."

Adele glanced at the poochyena, the large shirt barely covering her lower areas. "I think I have some clothes upstairs," she said, thinking about what would best fit the pokemon. She reached out to her. "Come on," she said, speaking in a baby voice like she would to a puppy. The poochyena shrank back, shying from her hand like it was a hot poker.

Adele frowned. "You might have to bring her upstairs with you, she's still way too skittish," she said, slightly offended. Wes nodded, and with Draco following, the four of them made their way upstairs, the poochyena shivering, though it wasn't even cold.


End file.
